The second floor of the Cider Pavilion. The VIP room. A place I almost never use.
And yet, who would have thought I'd end up using it so soon.
She said she wanted to talk somewhere calm, and this was the only private place I could think of.
The only other option was my house. But that was clearly out of the question.
"Hmm. How unexpected."
Mineha, being too small to sit on the sofa, was perched on the edge of the table instead.
The dishes lined up behind her weren't for me to eat.
They were what Mineha had ordered. Eight heaping plates, almost all of them meat.
Does she really eat this much by herself?
Come to think of it, I remembered she'd stacked up quite a few plates when we first met too.
Where does it all go in that tiny body?
"Mineha. You already ate, didn't you."
I looked at the mountain of plates on her table.
Mineha turned her gaze toward me and played dumb.
"Did I? You should help yourself too, you know. You only had drinks earlier."
The argument had ended in a falling out.
True enough, I hadn't been able to order any food. And I was hungry.
"...So what's so surprising about that?"
"That an errand boy has the connections to rent a room like this."
"I have a good relationship with this place, you see."
My usage had been increasing lately.
The VIP room was supposed to be something you couldn't just casually use.
However, the shopkeeper Burns was happy to make an exception for me.
That was really appreciated, but honestly, it wasn't somewhere I particularly wanted to use.
Besides, every single time I used it… it was for something involving women or girls.
The staircase to the second floor was a bit conspicuous within the shop, so Axe could easily spot me going up there.
Also, the VIP room was meant for private discussions, but it had other uses too.
So, yeah, it wasn't exactly somewhere a kid like me should be frequenting.
"You really are full of surprises, Wof."
"And I'm not an errand boy."
"But you're not a delver either, are you? How old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"Any child below delver rank is an errand boy."
"…That's not right. Where did you get that idea?"
"That's how it was where I'm from."
I see.
So there were towns like that too.
"So it's different here."
"Yes. Now, what did you want to talk about?"
"I have something to talk about"... That's what she had said back then.
Mineha gave a small nod.
"I didn't mean to fight with them."
"Right, of course."
"I certainly didn't mean to badmouth the master's son, either. But—"
I felt like Mineha swallowed whatever was supposed to follow that "but."
I asked,
"What are you doing about tomorrow's dungeon exploration?"
"That, of course I'll do. I'll participate just like the master said. But three men, and not a single one with a Relic—what is that supposed to be?"
"Four, actually."
Was leaving me out on purpose?
Mineha chuckled softly at my deadpan stare.
"Oh, right."
"So you want me to mediate between you and Axe and the others?"
"No. I'm not going to apologize."
"You're not?"
"I didn't know, for one thing. And it seemed like they found me annoying too. Not like I'm thrilled about being around men either."
"Wait—does that mean you're bad around men!?"
A chill ran through me.
Mineha was gazing at me with eyes gone ice-cold from the deepest bottom of her soul.
"Not bad around them. I hate them."
There was no mistaking the rejection in those words.
Something had happened. That much was clear. I let out a small sigh.
"— I'm a guy, you know."
"You're a boy. Not a man."
Ah, so that's what she meant.
To be fair, factoring in my past-life memories, I was mentally an adult in some ways.
But right now, I was a child. That much was certain.
Still, one of them was bad around women. The other hated men.
And one of them had no Relic. The other did.
Without me, this whole thing wouldn't work at all.
If anything, it would only get worse.
Could it be—
Including
me,
it's
all
already
woven
in.
…so
that's what it is.
If that's the case, then I'd been making a terrible mistake.
About who orchestrated this plan.
"……So that's how it is."
The Witch.
The one who thought of this wasn't Emmy. It was the Witch.
It probably went something like this. Emmy came to her for advice.
It was about resolving the shortcomings and problems of her son and disciple.
Hearing the story, the Witch immediately realized the people involved couldn't work it out on their own.
In that case, bring in a third party — that's what she decided.
The sacrifice — or rather, the one who gets chosen — same thing. The third party is
Wof.
Me.
Even so, aren't they way too dependent on me?
Could it be they handed me that outrageously generous Crescent Moon vessel for this very purpose?
Thinking it through like that, it felt like the pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place.
That witch.
How dare she so calmly drop a total outsider right into the middle of her family's muddy mess.
Mineha asked, eyeing me with suspicion.
"What do you mean, 'such a thing'?"
"…Actually, Axe and the others aren't great with women either."
"I'm a lady, sure, but I'm still a girl."
"They're uncomfortable around the opposite sex."
"I hate to say it myself, but that's pretty awful company."
"I can't deny that."
"But I've been thinking that I can't just stay like this forever."
"You have?"
"I can't keep being a man-hater forever and expect to get anywhere. So I want to get at least a little better."
So she did realize that the status quo wasn't going to work.
And on top of that, she actually had the will to improve.
"Um, I've been thinking about something."
"What?"
"You want to meet them halfway, Mineha. Even just a little."
"Yes. Even just a little."
"Then how about you stop using your Relic during this dungeon exploration? Axe and the others are delvers with skills that are nothing short of exemplary, even without Relics. By not using yours, it could become a learning experi—"
"No way."
"Huh?"
"I absolutely refuse to go without my Relic."
She looked straight at me.
It carried an intimidation that left no room for argument.
Persuading her was out of the question.
What the hell was I supposed to do about this?